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The Owl Finch

Welcome to Part 5 of The Finches of Serenity!

This is our blog series about the amazing finches that call our aviaries, home.

Today we’ll tell you about the Owl Finch, whose friendly personality has made them one of the most popular finches that we have to offer!

Common Names for an Owl Finch

• Double-Barred Finch
• Double-Bar Finch
• Bicheno Finch

Owl Finch Natural Habitat

The owl finches natural habitat is widespread across Australia.

In the wild, they typically live in small groups and forage in woodlands, scrublands, and grasslands throughout the content.

Urbanization has affected many of their habitats.

Still, owl finches are very active flyers and are widespread across Australia, so it’s common to see them in city parks and other populated areas.

Their diet for most of the year consists of a variety of plant seeds, particularly grasses.

During certain seasons when seeds aren’t as readily available, owl finches will eat fruits, berries, insects, and other forms of vegetation.

Physical Characteristics of an Owl Finch

Owl Finches grow between three and four inches from beak to tail.

Their coloration is distinct from other finches, but it’s hard to tell the males and females apart.

As you may have guessed, an owl finch looks a lot like a miniature owl.

Both sexes have a grey beak, white face, black eyes, and a black band that circles their face.

Their chest is white with hints of brown, and a second black band sits directly below their chest, which is why some call them “double-barred finches”.

Their bellies are white, the top of their head and back are brown, and their wings are dark brown with white spots.

Finally, their tails are black and pointed.

Owl Finch Song

Since male and female owl finches are so similar in appearance, the best way to tell them apart is by their voice.

Male owl finches sing a distinctive tune, while females generally make short chirps.

Below is a short video of a male owl finch singing his song.

Could this delightful finch enhance the acoustics in your facility?

We’ll let you decide.

Behavior and Temperament of Owl Finches

Like most finches, owl finches are very active and get their exercise from flying around.

Unlike most finches, they’re not very territorial.

They have a very friendly and bubbly personality, which makes them popular pets and loved in our aviaries.

Owl finches are best suited in aviaries with plenty of space and accompanied by other finch friends.

Since they’re so active, they need ample room to fly back and forth, land on different perches, and establish their own area.

They are docile and friendly, but without adequate room, owl finches will get bored, frustrated, and aggressive toward other birds.

Also, they may be friendly, but they don’t enjoy human handling.

When we visit our clients to deep clean their cages, we keep contact to a minimum.

Breeding Habits of Owl Finches

Owl finches are monogamous and breed with one mate for life.

Hens will lay around three to seven eggs per clutch.

After a two-week incubation period, their eggs will start hatching.

Hatchlings will begin to fledge at around 25 days and at roughly five weeks old, they will be weaned from the nest.

They will leave the nest but stay close to their parents for feeding purposes.

After the young are weaned from the nest, the parent owl finches may prepare for another brood.

At this time, the young owl finches should be removed from the enclosure.

We do this because when the parents want to breed again, they may become aggressive and territorial toward their young (males in particular).

We offer many mating pairs, but they don’t come standard with our aviaries.

If you’d like a breeding pair at your facility, reach out and we’ll discuss your options!

Care Guide for an Owl Finch

Proper Aviary Design

Aviary Size

Because owl finches are so active, having a spacious aviary is necessary.

Cages that are too small will cause a lot of stress and agitation. It may also cause conflicts between the birds inside.

So, when choosing an aviary or bird enclosure, remember that bigger is always better.

Serenity Aviaries, for example, are custom-made to fit in any facility and still give owl finches the space they need.

We work with each client to design an aviary that fits in their company’s interior.

Then, we’ll determine the appropriate number of finches for their spacious aviary.

Aviary Shape

Because they enjoy flying back and forth and can’t climb, the length of their enclosure is more important than the height.

Also, avoid using rounded edges for the structure, as this removes some of their available space.

Aviary Materials

Chewing and ingesting materials can be an issue for finches in an aviary.

To avoid this, the structure should be free of softwood, paint, untreated steel, and soft plastics.

By using high-grade materials, our Serenity Aviaries don’t allow for chewing or ingestion.

These structures are made from solid oak, stainless steel wire, anodized aluminum, high-grade laminate panels, and acrylic or glass windows.

Aviary Features

For an Owl Finch enclosure, you’ll need food and water access, ventilation, adequate internal lighting and heating, among other accessories.

Each of our aviaries comes with these features, and we’ll perform regular maintenance and food replenishment on each service visit.

We also offer many additional accessories for your and your finch’s benefit:

Customize Your Own Owl Finch Aviary

We work with each client to learn about their facility and its space requirements, then we discuss the dimensions and overall aviary design.

Finally, we’ll decide on the appropriate number of birds that best fit the enclosure.

Each bird aviary is custom-made in our state-of-the-art woodworking factory.

Below are some of our popular aviary colors you can choose from.

Black and white are our contemporary finishes, and if you’d like a different hardwood color than what you see below, just send us a message!

Keeping Owl Finches with Other Birds

Owl finches are very calm, friendly birds that’ll coexist with different species.

However, we do take precautions when mixing them.

For example, one pair of owl finches (male and female) will be just fine together, but two pairs will cause conflicts.

The males will be competitive and look to fight one another.

However, if you have three pairs of owl finches, the birds will find their territory and be generally peaceful with one another.

As far as mixing other species in an aviary, we include a greater number of the other birds than the number of owl finches.

If there are more owl finches, they may be territorial and bully the other birds.

Quality Food and Fresh Water

If you plan to house birds of any kind, you’ll need a constant supply of food and multiple sources of fresh water.

An owner should provide a seed and pellet-based diet.

You can find excellent food choices for finches on Chewy.com and at your local pet store.

You should also include a dish of water for drinking and another water source for bathing.

It’s recommended that you clean and replenish these water sources daily to keep your owl finches as healthy as possible.

Hassle-Free Feeding and Watering with Serenity

Each of our Serenity Aviaries comes with our patent-pending Infinity Feeder.

This innovative system has enough storage to hold food and water for up to 6 months.

The water will stay fresh, too, as we’ve added a copper plug in the container.

Copper continuously treats the water and keeps it cleaner than any product on the market!

Functional Décor

You will need some interior décor to offer entertainment and comfort for Owl Finches.

Some important things to include are nests, branches, and swings.

Swings and Branches

Swings and branches offer entertainment, a spot to perch, and a way to establish territory.

A bonus is that by jumping and landing on these horizontal branches, they naturally trim their claws.

It’s also important to install these items toward the top of the aviary because finches prefer to perch as high up as possible.

Nests

As for nests, Owl Finches may use them for resting, hiding, and breeding if you have a breeding pair.

Just like perches and swings, make the nests accessible, but position them as close to the top as possible.

Ongoing Aviary Cleaning and Maintenance

These finches are wonderful pets and we supply them to many office buildings, nursing homes, hotel lobbies, and more.

The best part is, we take care of the aviary and these birds for each client.

With a bird cage cleaning service from Serenity, we’ll sanitize the Infinity Feeder and replenish it with fresh food and water.

We’ll also deep clean the rest of your aviary, check the health of your owl finches, and replace any products or birds, if necessary.